The Oldest Profession

The time is 1981, shortly after the election of Ronald
Reagan. The place is a sunny park bench in Verdi Square, 72nd
Street & Broadway, NYC. The people are Mae, a madam, and
her stable: Ursula, Lillian, Vera and Edna. They are five
"working girls" at the end of their very long careers. The
youngest is 72 years old. While waiting for appointments with
their gentlemen, the women reminisce about their early days in
New Orleans' Storyville -- where, Mae says, "there was honor in
the trade" -- and argue about their options today. They are
businesswomen whose clients are literally a dying breed. One of
their customers has been kidnapped by his children. Another
thinks it's 1940 and has taken to paying with silk stockings.
Others are in the hospital, and may not be coming out. For
Mae's stable, the financial situation is grave . . . and these
girls aren't getting any younger.

Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright Paula
Vogel (How I Learned to Drive) uses the notion of
elderly prostitutes as a way to talk of the economic situation
of women in a male society, the need for security in old age,
the fears of death and change, and the age-old notion that a
woman's best, and sometimes only, bargaining chip is her
body.

With the warmth generated by longtime friendships, and
personality enriched by a lifetime of experience, the actresses
in The Oldest Profession humanize the absurd spectacle
of elderly prostitutes. These characters are independent,
fun-loving, and gallant. A cast of five
with 87 accumulated years of experience in theater portrays the
sisterhood with lively, unsentimental humor. With the
exceptions of Bertie Donovan and Marcy Weiland, all are making
their Mercury Players debut.

The
Playwright

Paula Vogel recently won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for
her extraordinary play How I Learned to Drive.
Previously, Vogel won a 1992 Obie Award for Best New American
Play for The Baltimore Waltz. Her plays have been
produced by American Repertory Theatre, Circle Repertory
Theatre, Center Stage and Yale Repertory Theatre, as well as
throughout the United States and abroad.

The Director

Craig Johnson is making his Mercury Players debut
with The Oldest Profession. Last summer, he directed
Picasso at the Lapin Agile for Strollers Theatre, where
he has acted in numerous productions, including The Woman in
Black and Our Country's Good. While in college at
UW-Eau Claire, he directed Uppies and Downies and
16th and Mission-both of which appeared at the American
College Theatre Festival in Green Bay-and Leroi Jones'
Dutchman.

The Cast

Bertie Donovan(Edna) made her stage debut in
Jane Martin's Vital Signs. Since then she has appeared
as Amelia in Amelia Lives, Miranda in Mercury Players'
Raised in Captivity, Jesse in 'night Mother, Vita
in Vita and Virginia, Mrs. Sarti in Galileo, and
most recently as Edna in A Delicate Balance. Bertie
teaches psychology at MATC and is a research scientist at the
Waisman Center, UW-Madison.

Barbara Houghton(Vera) has performed with
community theater groups in Portland, Oregon, Boston,
Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since moving to
Wisconsin in 1968, she has worked with Strollers, CTM,
University Theatre, Madison Creative Arts Program, Reprise
Theatre, and Honest Puck Productions. Favorite roles include
Amanda in Glass Menagerie, Lottie in Lettice and
Lovage, Sloth in Dr. Faustus, and, most recently,
Mrs. Dubose in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Gloria Pickard(Ursula) began working in
theater less than two years ago, after retiring from nursing.
She's worked backstage, onstage, and as stage manager with
Strollers and Madison Theatre Guild. Roles to date are Ouiser
in Steel Magnolias and Madame de Rosemonde in Les
Liaison Dangereuses.

Isabelle Polner(Lillian) has performed as
actor or dancer with the Reprise Theatre, the Metro Dance
Company, the Wisconsin School of Ballet, Strollers, and with
several ensemble groups in readings for seniors. She has
appeared in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and as Muriel in
Plaza Suite.

Marcy Weiland(Mae) is artistic director of
Mercury Players. A charter member, her performing credits
include Family Life, Little Slices, Desire, Hilary in
Raised in Captivity, Mary Ann in Escape from
Happiness, and most recently, Maggie in Temp Slave.
She has also directed, written, and produced for Mercury.